Shedding away from the regular 9-to-5 job in order for pursuing your dream-entrepreneurship may prove to be life-changing and fruitful. But many people believe that having a good idea is fair enough to quit the day job. No. it’s not that. Having a good idea up in your head is way different that executing that idea in a real business world. Everyone focuses too much on inspiration and lesser on the implementation. Success only welcomes those who are motivated enough to put the idea into action by follow through, know-ifs, money, resources and hard work.
While you’re still working a full-time job, here is a list of things you can do on the side to explore an idea for a great new business:
1) Research about your idea completely. Figure out the market you are targeting and the strategies. Talk to people who are more experienced in that industry and prospective customers as well as competitors first.
2) Undertake legal incorporation and trademark protection
3) Build a website for your company. It’s the first thing where customers can easily post feedbacks. So create company email accounts. If you are not a developer, you can outsource this task.
4) Get a business bank account and personal credit card(as you might have to spend from your pockets in the beginning of your startup)
5) It’s important to create a social media presence from the beginning. Create a Facebook page, a blog and twitter account.
6) Develop branding.
7) A single entrepreneur cannot bring success alone. He needs to talk about his idea to people and interested parties for building a team: co-founders, investors, mentors and employees.
8) If necessary, build financial projections and draft a business plan( investors always need a strong business plan)
9) Engage yourself in finance planning that includes day-to-day cost of your startup, cutting back on expenses both professional and personal.
10) Create a mock prototype and presentation for potential investors or customers.
Taking out time from your busy job schedule is a big task. However, considering these points before quitting a job ensures that you have landed in a known area. Getting all the work done along with your job requires significant commitment. Yet, you’re just getting started. There’s a big jump in difficulty when it comes to the next things.
1- Raise money.
Raising money is one of the major roadblocks for young entrepreneurs. Investors may not be attracted to your startup if you don’t have experience. Moreover, they are too serious about a business plan, which,I feel,does not work in the real world.
2- Develop the product.
After giving a concise thought to your idea, the next step is developing it in real. Even if you’re hiring someone to build your product, managing them to specifications is a huge task in itself. They can even take time twice as long as you’ve planned. This phase of your startup may require additional money as well.
3- Build a team.
This is one of the core tasks of an entrepreneur. He/she is always encircled with thoughts such as ” Is that person the perfect one as a co-founder or employee”? Your first employee or quality partner is a dedicated soul who’s productivity depends on your ability to manage. The first few people on board are the people with whom you need to establish quality relationships as they will be working with you from the ground up and the years afterwards.
4- Get customers.
Getting the first few customers is a huge investment of time and efforts. You can try getting handful of customers by web marketing and publishing relevant content on internet. Talk to people who have the ability to bring in customers. Investors are the best people to start with, as they have their own network which can prove to be fruitful for you as well.
Don’t forget to keep these things in mind before deciding to shed away from your regular 9-to-5 job.
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